shihawk

Keith will you be double planking??? ,this is advertised as a double planked hull but in fact it,s only from the wale line up if you count the gunport strips as a bottom planking . Im only thinking if your filling and sanding the pins could be a problem . i think thats four billings Victory logs going now so hope you won,t mind a few questions now and again ???? Boyd

you will be scratch building in no time????

Thats the spirit .We all have off days !!!!!

Hi Dominic ,i could say all the usual ,Its your build and we are our own worst critics etc etc ,all of which are true ,and as i only have 3 years building i do see your point about advice from more experienced builders ,but thats all it is ,advice !! In the end do it your way what makes you happy and if you ain,t happy i always think ,well i,ll remember and do it different in my next build . Personaly i think your planking looks great (im not being patronising ) if you google ,as i have numerous pictures of builds many show different ways of planking ,very few are historicaly correct and many are amazing . Im attempting a Victory build without paint and will have to change the position of the wales in order to simulate the stripes dispite ADVICE that this may not be correct , but if it looks right ,and time will tell, im happy. Now for my advice !! As regards the spaces in your planking ,it could be bad timber , it could be soaked timber drying out and shrinking ,but there are solutions ,if it were mine i certainly would not take it off ,my opinion,!! We all get frustrated when you see imaculate builds but remember these were probably built with top quality timber and fancy percision tools ,not blades and cheap files as in my case . Perfection in our own eyes is impossible ,striving for it takes a life time Gee i talk some s--t , hang in there i see you started your Bounty Jolly don,t stop Have Fun!!!

Tks both for your concern about my wales but my problem is that if im not painting i have to create the stripes with the wales and therfore may have to move the run of the wales to maintain an equal strip . Will be trying it out in the next couple of days and will post some pics to explain what i think i mean ??!! If i can get it to look right im not that worried if its totally acurate

It,s a good idea Adam and i will be glad to join in ,but im sure you have read plenty of build logs and realise that one mans food is anothers mans poision .Everyone has different expectations from a kit , some prefere great instructions ,some demand accuracy, others want first grade timber .I resently read a topic on the perfect kit and why manufactures couldn,t or wouldn,t produce it and i believe the conclusion was that apart from cost you simply cant please every one . possibly a poll of who supplies the best timber and who provides the best beginners instructions or the most authentic build rather than a general opinion could be more usefull for the individual needs . Only my thoughts in my limited exoerience and will support what ever you go with ,all help is usefull when deciding on next build . Boyd

Hi all seems a long time since my last post but second planking is taking longer than i thought , still have upper half of one side to finish but thought i,d experiment on one side first After much consideration i decided a Victory would,nt be a Victory without strips so planked from the lower wale up in Mukaly strip which when varnished has a yellowish orangey color ( i only had a limited supply of this so attempted to fill under the wales with other wood which accounts for the zig zag strip) but got worried that my calculations for wale location could be wrong or change so may yet have to remove and replace those couple of timbers . Have been trying different methods of lining the gunports and have decided on a double lining which although not entirely accurate hides the fact that my second planking is only 0.5 and with a 1mm instep would leave a noticeable edge ,plus i think the 0.5 lip is more realistic looking ,(my opinion others welcome???). It,s simply one strip of 0.5 with another stuck on top but steped back about 1mm ,still have a bit af cleaning up to do and the gunport lid is not glued yet as im still undecided about how to make them ,probably keep inside and out all one wood as experiment with inside dark and outside light didn,t look right The plasticgun carriages would probably be alright below decks but unlike the CC build Billings have very few that won,t be seen so i decided to replace them all and use my experimental ones below deck. My first one turned out ok but when trial fitting seems a bit low to the deck and i would prefere a darker wood for wheels so back to the drawing board!!! the actual cannons come partly drilled but to far back and when fitted were top heavy as can be seen i redrilled further forward ,it payes to dry fit as far in front as possible !! My recent two power tool purchases ,have only played with the lathe but seems a great tool . The dremel saw is useful and as i get used to it and make a few alterations its a cheap fillin untill decide which proper saw to buy

What is the best way to obtain a copy ,sounds interesting ???

Im useing TITEBOND II WOOD GLUE bought from CMB .Don,t find it messy if used with caution Can be bought on Amazon in quantity even cheaper

Im building the billing Victory and used this method to put an extra layer of thin planks on as i don,t want to paint Thought it mite be usefull as i had good results but obviously you have been using it already . I found as thin a layer as possible worked best but only a short distance at a time . Yes its the second planking never tried it on the first but will next build

HI Mike ,your doing a great job As im planking the second layer on my build at present i thought you might like to try a method i read about somewhere on the sit but can,t remember who to thank for . I decided to try it and have had great results . Put a thin layer of wood glue on the hull where plank will be fitted ,then put a thin layer of glue on the plank itself . I do about 12 ins at a time and by the time you have the glue on the plank the glue on the hull is nearly dry . fit your plank and push into place as soon as possible It seems to grip almost like CA but still leaves time for adjustment I found i only needed clamps or pins at extreme bends or the ends of planks i also got into the habit of immediatly cleaning each plank and seam with a damp cloth although with a little practice very little glue seeps out. I then rub the plank and joint with end of a clothes peg to bed it in well and smooth out the joints . I must point out that i am useing o.5 wood and this may not work as well on thicker stifer planks but should be worth a try ,saves a lot on pining and clamping . As always experiment on some scraps first . Hope this is of some help Have Fun Boyd

hi Keith .Are you sure you haven,t got a couple of Russian boat builders staying in that new workshop and doing nightshifts ,if so can i hire them for a week cause i still haven,t finished my second planking .As you say she,s really starting to look like a Victory now and i agree the rigging needs a little color of some kind .,will be interested to see what you decide . Keep the pics coming cause you will be finished before i get my top deck on . Looks great Boyd

Hi Dimitris , Are you sure this is your first build ?? Great paint work and detailing .My first build was a billings Bluenose 1:100 but not in your league at all , I look forward to your next build ,if you continue this standard it will be well worth following . Have Fun Boyd

your well under way keith. Just curious but don,t it get confuseing with 2 builds going on at once .i know lots do it but i find it hard to go back to finishing my cruiser , and you must have plenty of space ?? but anyway good luck with your build and Have Fun.!

cant see to well,a bit small,but maybe son can enlarge it . If taken on an i-pod you need to turn it around thanks anyway i think it could be the answer just got it enlaged , it certainly looks the part

Nice working in the sun ,great spell ,pity rain coming don,t get her wet she,s looking great

HI Mike ,i see your planking is going well the only advice i can offer is try all the methods on your first planking eg stealers ,half stealers ,lining etc cause you will probably need them all on the second run ,i know im finding the second planking very slow with a lot of head scratching and scrap timber . But good luck and keep at it . Have fun!!! Boyd

looking good Keith,what kind of stand are you useing it looks interesting?/??

Who manfactured and what is scale ? i have so called plans and instructions for Billings 1: 100

tks David ,all opinions are welcome so please don,t hold back i need them all .Been thinking about gunports and as my socond planking is only .5 mm the 1mm step will mean i have 2 different wood edges showing ,i know its only .5 mm but think i need to do a trial run before deciding .Had been considering cheating and keeping the wales of the gunports but as i have decided to forget about the Victory strips i now think the wales would look better in their proper place !, but then again my decisions have changed before .there is always a solution finding it is the problem ..

tks Clearway please post pic i still haven,t decided yet what to do about frames yet so any ideas will be welcome

tks David i think a couple of years might be optimistic but time flies when your enjoying yourself and i need to take a break sometime and finish my Cruiser pics explain themselves the last one is my first attempt to make gun carriages and after cutting these out by hand i finaly invested in a Dremel Moto Saw which only arrived yesterday so cant comment on it either way as yet but i do need something for cutting and shaping and it seemed a cheap option to start with ,The ball racks aren,t glued in yet will wait utill hull finished I see a lot of mention of Wipe on Poly but can,t source any localy is there a UK equalivent or is it just another name for poly varnish ??????

Just a quick update ,progress has been slow with better weather work gets in the way . First planking finished and sanded and thankfully only a couple of hollows to fill. Decided to plank from the keel up and done my best to figure out how some people can manage it without stealers but its beyond me ,might just be possible at bow but finished up using full and half stealers plus a couple of correcting planks at stern No pics of this process at present maybe to-nite !. I do have a couple of pics of my attempt at cannon ball racks. Could buy 2mm cannon balls from Amati at £1.70 / 20 but bought a box of No 9 shotgun cartrages for £5.00 and have nearly 3000 2mm balls although they are lead ,apparently any shot of this size will be lead but when painted and varnished hopefully they will take years to deteriate Rather than countersink each hole for each ball due to lack of percision tools and bad eyes i routered out a grouve and glued them in tight to-gether and seems to work ok Again hope to have pics of result tonite

maybe it wouldn,t suit your case but have you considered nailing or pining it down .just a thought

Hi Michael glad to see your still at it ,just take your time and remember filler and sanding will level things up at the end .Normally the last 3 or 4 bulkheads both bow and stern will need sanding ,quite a lot at the stern as i remember .Run a light plank around the bend to judge how much to take off and keep rechecking , this is an important step to get the right line of the hull and save a lot of filling later on .Your gunports look tidy,as does your deck so once you have the planking finished thats the tedious bit done ,as a break from planking build a few cannons for a change . Just a suggestion !!! Keep up the good work and remember any queries just ask and ill do my best .Have Fun.